


A Peace Disturbed

by QueenBookBuff



Series: The Scarlet and SJ Chronicles [1]
Category: That '70s Show
Genre: All of our Tomorrows Universe, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, She Belongs to Me Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:22:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27089320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenBookBuff/pseuds/QueenBookBuff
Summary: What Hyde thought was put too rest comes back after a long time, he has to face hurts that he didn't know he had.
Relationships: Jackie Burkhart/Eric Forman, Jackie Burkhart/Michael Kelso, Jackie Burkhart/Steven Hyde
Series: The Scarlet and SJ Chronicles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977190
Comments: 5
Kudos: 22





	A Peace Disturbed

**Author's Note:**

> This may seem like a repeat of what you read when I introduced Scarlet and SJ, but I thought there needed to be a connection piece to my SJ and Scarlet Universe. I am editing the first piece with them as main characters tonight.
> 
> Thanks for staying with me, if you are still following this version of Jackie and Hyde from She belongs to me.

The night was cool, summer faded quickly into fall in Wisconsin. Nights went from hot to your breath being visible, from stagnant humidity to the crisp air that promised winter with little in between. Nights like this are perfect for a high school football game, full of fans in their school gear, cheers and cries of victory splitting the air. He can almost see it, hell, he can almost taste it, the vivid memory of a girl in a cheer uniform with a ponytail bouncing while she tumbled falls upon him. He wishes he could step back into that memory, be 17 again, but instead it’s been almost nineteen years since a night like that was part of his life. Instead of crisps nights on a water tower with friends, he watches an old friend flipping through a magazine, looking older but identical to the last time he saw him. He walks out of the shadows and places his hand on the cold metal of the handle. He once heard hell isn’t a place you go to but a state where you repeat your own personal nightmare. He would preach that theory from the mountain tops. That is why he is here, he wants to get out, this can only end one of two ways, but either way he wants the lock of his hell to open. He pulls on the door handle to the store to face the gatekeeper of his nightmare.

Hyde had lived a lot of life in his 36 years. The first 19 years had been hellish, some of it he had no control of and some of it was his own making. The last seventeen being married to Jackie has been his own personal miracle. He used to fight so fiercely against the idea of getting married young, but here he was 36, married for 17 years with twins who were seniors in high school. He still felt young, engaged, and ready to take on anything. He silently chuckled to himself because 36 year old Hyde is glad he married young, even if 19 year old Hyde was fucking terrified of it. 

  
  


He muses to himself, 19 year old Hyde was an idiot, the smartest thing he ever did was show up at the rehearsal dinner and throw his heart one last time at Jackie’s feet. He knows if he hadn’t fucked up he wouldn’t have had to take that gamble, but 36 year old Hyde is at peace as he can be with that boy. Hyde knows that peace was hard won but only possible due to her. He has always tried to be honest, and that trait knows he would probably be dead or the worst version of himself if she was Mrs. Michael Kelso. He shakes his head, it doesn't matter, it has been 13 years since he last laid eyes on him, but the mere thought of Jackie and Kelso in the same sentence wakes up the part of him that he must work daily to keep contained. His thoughts fade away when the phone to Groove’s rings

“Grooves”

“Hey Baby” a silky voice says

“Whatcha doing Doll?” He grins into the phone

“Oh, just missing my husband and feeling abandoned because he leaves me at home to work nights.” Jackie teases.

Hyde tenses, he hates working nights, “I know baby, but Mark’s wife could go into labor any day. I still need to hire a new night manager now that he and I are going to rotate shifts. I’m sorry.”

“Steven! I’m just teasing, I’m bored. SJ and Scarlet are gone, I have a new silk night gown and no one to show it off to“, she practically purrs

Hyde feels his blood start to heat and a grin starts to spread. This woman, he will never get enough of her. He was about to retort back when the bell to the door rang it’s about 10 minutes until its closing, so he is surprised. He looks up and all he can do is say, 

“Jacks, I have to go. Be home soon.”

He will wonder if he summoned him by thinking about him, because there stands Michael Kelso. Someone he had hoped would completely fall off the earth after he tried to beat him to death, but apparently Kelso was still the “King” and didn’t get the hint.

“You have 5 seconds to get out of my store, or you and I are going to have a repeat of 13 years ago and Red is not here to stop me this time.”

He watches Kelso take a deep breath and steady himself,

“I’m not here to fight with you Hyde. It’s been 13 years since you tried to kill me and 17 since you took off with Jackie, the least you…….”   
  


“Don’t” Hyde snarls “Don’t finish that sentence or I will leap over this counter and end this. The least I can do is not come over there and beat you to death. I don’t owe you anything Kelso, you fucked with Jackie and I’s life. Then you came where you weren’t wanted and put your hands on her. You hurt her. There is no least, only the knowledge that I’m not over it.”

Kelso doesn’t know it, but Jackie’s prediction all those years ago when she laid in bed after her nasty confrontation with Hyde was true. No amount of time had lessened his burning fury for Kelso. Time had pushed it the back of his mind, but Jackie was dead on, Kelso would always be a trigger for Hyde, and he was approaching his flash point.

Kelso inwardly sighs, he isn’t sure why he imagined that time would have mellowed Hyde, but he had hoped he would get a chance to talk with him. He didn’t go to the house, he hasn’t approached Jackie, he wants to, but knows that showing up there will not produce the results he is hoping for.

“Listen, I’m not here to fight with you, I need to talk to you, Hyde. Give me five minutes. Then I will turn around and walk out.”

In every man, still lies a boy, that version of Hyde was stubborn and unmoveable. He crossed his arms and glared at him. Just like all those years ago, Hyde would refuse to start this conversation.

Kelso almost rolled his eyes, this could have been the Hyde that lived in the basement, this stance was so familiar, it felt good to Kelso. He didn’t know Hyde anymore, it gave him odd comfort the version he knew was still in him. 

‘Listen Hyde, first I’m here to say I’m sorry that Jackie got hurt all those years ago. No matter what has gone done between the three of us, I would have never wanted to cause her harm. It has bothered me for years. It wasn’t my intention to hurt her that day, talk to her yes, but to hurt her no. I’m sorry and I need Jackie to know that but I know you don’t want me near her.”

He watches Hyde’s eyes burn at that last statement, Hyde’s won, he’s had her for all these years, and he still doesn't want him near Jackie. The part of him that is dark and unhealthy believes that is because Hyde knows somewhere in Jackie she still might love him. What Kelso doesn’t understand is that line of obsessive thinking, never let her go and can’t live in reality part of him is why Hyde will always worry that one day Kelso will go over the edge and try to take Jackie. He sees Hyde is getting impatient and his time is flying by, so he keeps going with his speech,

“We were all best friends, there was a time when we didn’t go a day without seeing each other and now we don’t speak. I hate that. I’m sorry for my part in that. We both made mistakes and did things wrong. I think we should both apologize and try to bury the hatchet.”

Hyde’s heart is pounding, he can detect the monster that is his temper straining hard against the chains he keeps it in. He is impressed, Kelso is brave enough to come within 100 feet of him, and he can see regret in Kelso’s eyes, but he sees something else. He still thinks Hyde owes him something, he is going to put that to rest. He pushes off the counter, strides up to Kelso, rips off his glasses, looks at Kelso dead in the eye and says with every feeling he has for Kelso in his voice,

“I didn’t make any mistakes that I need to apologize to you for, Jackie yes, but not you.

I’m not apologizing for finally taking a shot with Jackie when you bolted with Donna for the summer, oh and by the way, Fez told Eric years ago that you and Donna spent your whole trip screwing each other.

I’m not sorry that I started dating and loving her instead of hiding it from you assholes

I’m not sorry that I kicked your ass then and I’m not sorry I did it when you put your hands on my wife.

I’ll never apologize for coming that night to tell her that I loved her, that I was sorry for all the fuck ups and hurt I caused her. Here’s the truth Kelso, I haven’t changed, I still don’t lie. That night, I didn’t say a word about you. Not one single word. I came to atone for what I did to her, and to tell her I loved her. Jackie didn’t know until months after we were married what you did. I avoided telling her, because I knew it would hurt her. When I found her one night feeling guilty about hurting you, I told her everything except one thing. I never told her you told me

_ “I should have boned her and then given her back.” _

I didn’t think she needed to know how little you thought of her. She left because she wanted to, and I’m sure as hell, not sorry she picked me. I’ll be sorry until I die for every hurt Jackie suffered between the two of us but I don’t owe you shit Kelso.”

The worst part of Hyde was damn near gleeful, watching Kelso’s face go gray just like that night in the basement when he pushed the dagger in and twisted it by telling him 

_ “I knew her first” _

He pulls out the last secret in his quiver of arrows. He never thought he would have a chance to use it, but looks like Christmas came early, because this was a gift, and he was going to enjoy it.

“Oh, one more thing. The dress, the grasshopper that night, when we left, she asked to go back to the mansion. She had her bags packed, she was ready to escape and leave you at the altar. See Kelso, it had little to do with me, which you could never get…. Jackie is capable of making her own choices.”

Kelso swallows, he didn’t anticipate Hyde could hurt him more but here it is another punch to the head. He could have lived without knowing what Hyde just told him, but he started this, and he would finish it. He says with righteous indignation,

“You are such a bastard Hyde. Still refusing to recognize your part in it, a real friend doesn’t steal a guy’s girl. I’m sorry about the hurt I’ve caused. I can see you still can’t take responsibility and you have no desire to make peace” 

Kelso will forever be the victim, it is a core a feature in his personality. That doesn't shock Hyde, Kelso has been like that since they were kids, but he feels the need to be clear on the whole “real friend” argument, Hyde feels a swirl of hurt he didn’t know he still had for this jerk. Hyde thinks wearily  _ Why? Why couldn’t he comprehend that his hypocrisy was near epic level. _

__ If Kelso wants to talk, well, he has question for him, one he knows he can’t answer

“You’re sorry for what you did? Would you be sorry, if she had married you? Would it keep you up at night if she was laying next to you? Would it trouble you that you won her with lies and manipulation? Would you search for peace between us? Fuck no, you wouldn’t. You are like the criminal who isn’t sorry he stole, he is only sorry he got caught.”

Hyde stares at him dead in the eye not blinking, inwardly daring him to give him a bullshit answer that will give him justification to rip him apart. Kelso breaks eye contact with Hyde, he has no answer for him. This line of thinking is something that will keep him locked in his hell, he refuses to even dip his toe into that fiery pool of regret. His silence only spurs Hyde on as he continues his tirade.

“ A real friend Kelso? In what universe do you think you were a real friend to me? I’m not stupid enough to think it’s your fault that I made the choices I did, but you actually went out of your way to set up situations that played on hurts Jackie and I had. You took years of knowledge of being a friend and used it for your own gain. How was that being a real friend to me? To Jackie? I wanted her for years. I never touched her, never went after her, the whole time you two were together. Screw your definition of a  _ real friend _ .”

Hyde puts his glasses on and continues coldly,

“She stopped being your girl the night you got in the van and bailed. I don’t want peace Kelso. I’m comfortable hating you until I die, you hurt Jackie. I don’t even give a fuck anymore what you did to me. Your inference in her life, her disappointment in you not being the friend or man she thought you were, and finally interrupting her life when she clearly has no desire to you see….

For that Kelso, there is no peace, there is no forgiveness and the same goes for your wife. Now get the Fuck out of my store.”

He knows Hyde’s tolerance is gone, and he leaves the store. He is not ready to give up, he will never put it to rest until he can have his point seen, and he knows Jackie and him are okay. This isn’t over by a long shot, even if he is risking Hyde’s wrath.

Hyde follows him, flips the sign, locks the door and sits down by the counter. He wonders if Kelso will ever go away or will he spend his life watching for him to appear around the corner. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath……..

_ He really hates Kelso _

_ \----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _

Patience is a virtue that allows you peace in difficult moments, helps you break up the boring and allows a soul to be content to wait. Jackie Hyde did not possess this virtue, she had grown in many ways from the spoiled girl from long ago, but being patient was still a skill she had no use for. Every tick of the clock was making her nerves raw with something she couldn’t place. Every minute he didn’t walk in the door, her ability to be calm was shrinking. He was late, not a little but over an hour, the phone had been silently mocking her since he had let her go abruptly, which is something he never does. 

She bits her lip, an unconscious gesture of worry followed by her tapping her perfect manicured nail on the end table that held the phone. It was closing in on 11:15, and there is no way he would go out without telling her. If he was going to grab Eric for a drink, either he would call or Devon would. She had called the store twice with no answer, if he isn’t home in five minutes, she thinks, she is getting in her car and driving to Grooves.

She thinks to herself she would have done it earlier, but she knew he would get all _ “Damn it Jackie” _ about her driving late at night. He could be so ridiculous about these things, so she had waited, but she is over it. She springs to her feet, already thinking what to throw over her night gown when the familiar sound of his step enters the kitchen. She throws herself back on to the couch, ready to look causal for whatever difficulty was about to come her way.

Hyde stepped through the door, already exhausted by what is about to take place. He is reminded of the night that he came home, and he told her the truth. Just like that night, all he wants is to rest in Jackie, and let her burn it all away. He steps into their living room and despite what just went down, simply the sight of her relaxes him. She turns, smiles, hesitant, worried, and starts to speak, but he cuts her off

“Hey baby, where are the kids?”

Jackie knows when Steven is avoiding a topic, but knows pushing him is the wrong thing to do. She has a lifetime of experience in making that mistake for once she plays along. She merely raises her eyebrow at him,

“SJ is across the street with Jackson, probably annoying the hell out of Eric and Devon and teasing poor Heidi. Just like you and Eric used to do to Red and Kitty. 

She smiles to herself thinking about Jackson Forman, Eric ended up marrying someone like Kitty. Devon was a nurse, her patience was endless, which was good because Eric and Hyde could still be complete and total idiots when together. Just like Kitty, one day she brought home a boy, who didn’t belong to them but made him their son. It was a complicated story, but it made her happy that a life was saved, just like the Formans’ saving Steven.

“Jackie?” Hyde asks, she had never finished telling him where the kids were after SJ.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Scarlet is with a new girl named Anne Marie, from cheerleading. Sweet girl.”

Hyde barely nodded, still not moving from the doorway, he can’t bring himself to go there. He looks at Jackie, his eyes pleading her to ask, this one time to push.

Jackie watches his eyes go a deep blue, she can read that he is tired, worried, not sure how to proceed, and underneath it all is anger.

“Steven….. What happened? Why are you so late? I was getting worried about you.” She softly whispers, but simultaneously opens her arms to him. 

He drops onto the couch, and he pulls her tight. The hug is one of desperation and love. His face buried in her hair, inhaling her soft scent desperate for it to calm him.

Jackie twists her fingers into his hair, trying to get him to relax, but the tension is not fading. 

“Steven, what is going on?

She didn’t believe it was possible, but his body got even more tense. It was like hugging a statue. Hyde pushed himself out of her arms, and he did something he hadn’t done in a long time with her. He put on his sunglasses. He watched her startle, her eyes went wide with hurt. He was denying her his eyes. Stopping the gift they have always shared, the ability to read each other. 

“STEVEN! What are you doing?” she said harshly

“Just don’t Jackie” he snapped

Jackie was many things, but like patience even tempered continued to not be one of them.

_ “Just don’t _ ? You are over an hour late getting home, acting sullen, you’re tenser than I’ve seen you in years, and for the first time in over a decade you covered your eyes when telling me something and you’re going with  _ Just don’t _ ? She snapped back “How about you  **_Just_ ** don’t?”

Storming off was still a go to for Jackie when she was pissed, she twirled around ready to march upstairs when Hyde caught her wrist. He spun her back and crushed her to him. His arms wrapping around her tightly, his head resting on hers. Hyde took a second to settle himself, he wasn’t mad at her, and it wasn’t fair to take it out on her. He will not fight with her because it is easier than dealing with what he must say. That defense has helped him make some of the worst decisions of his life.

“I’m sorry Doll. A thing happened tonight I didn’t want to come home until I was done being angry. I don’t know how to talk about it.”

Jackie was still pissed, but was proud of him for stopping himself from fighting with her to avoid a tough topic. Even after all these years he still fell back to that when he was agitated. 

“Steven, tell me for the love of God”, she retorted

There was no easing into, so he ripped the bandage immediately off, “Kelso came to the store tonight, it was why I said I had to go.”

He felt her go rigid, her arms drop away from him, she pushed him back, rips his sunglasses off, and tries to speak evenly, but she fails miserably

“Look at me Steven. Don’t you dare look away!”

She reads him, she sees the anger, the worry, the tiredness, but what she wasn’t expecting to encounter was hurt. In all this time, he never talked about his feelings being hurt, only anger. 

“Steven, baby. What happened?”

He tells her everything, Kelso just appearing, claiming he wanted to make peace, Kelso still blaming him for the summer that started it all, and the one he hadn’t expected to matter but did, was the accusation that he wasn’t a real friend.

Jackie watches him closely, and sees for the first time Kelso’s actions had hurt Hyde’s feelings. All those years ago, the death of a friendship did matter to him, it had always been easier for him to hide it under anger. She knew her husband well, he was an expert on how to be angry but didn’t deal well with being hurt. Jackie reached up to stroke his cheek,

“He upset you.” 

For some reason a statement of something so obvious finally allowed him to let it all out

“Of course it upset me Jackie. It’s been 13 years since I tried to kill him. 13 years since he caused you to get hurt and have migraines for the rest of your life. 13 years since I almost destroyed us by letting my anger out on you. It doesn't matter how much time goes by, the mere thought of Kelso is like someone throwing our worst moments in my face.”

She closed her eyes, trying to think about the best way to say what she could see in his eyes.

“Baby, that isn’t what I meant. I know you are upset, it is vibrating off of you. I mean, he _ upset you _ . Your feelings are hurt. I can see it in your eyes hiding under the anger.”

No part of Jackie is surprised to see him, shutter his eyes with that familiar mocking gaze, that is his guard against his idea of a weakness, but she isn’t going to let this go. 

“Steven, please don’t pretend. How about maybe this one time I don’t have to drag it out of you? It might be time to admit that Kelso sucking as a friend didn’t only hurt me.”

Hyde gazes down into her loving stare and sighs heavily, he pulls her gently to the couch and cuddles her up into his arms. He makes sure her head is on his chest, because he doesn't want her to know how hurt he is. He knows this will only upset her and continue the never ending shrapnel that is Kelso. 

“I guess, I never thought about how it made me feel as a friend. It is hard not to be distracted by what he did to you, what he did to us, and how close he got to helping me destroy our future. Tonight, when he said I was a crappy friend, that I should apologize to him for taking his girl, it hurt. Still, after all this time, he really does think he was justified, he can apologize, say he wants peace, but that one statement tells me he thinks he was the victim. He made a comment about, how we all used to be best friends, and he was right, we were. We had a world, one with a million memories, and now I wonder if we were ever really friends. So much of my life was crap, I never imagined the basement would be the place where the worst would come from.”

He didn’t have anything else to say about it, he hoped she knew that he didn’t want to talk about it, because he didn’t. He felt her squeeze him tight, and noticed his shirt getting wet. It pissed him off, it was proof of what he had been thinking earlier, they were never going to ever really get rid of him. 

Jackie didn’t say anything, she knew he would shut down, she did the only thing she could,

“Steven, I love you very much. I will forever.”

He kisses the top of her head and lets her love take it all away, yet he feels the need to make something clear,

“Jackie, I one hundred percent do not believe this is done. Kelso, no matter what he says, is going to try to see you again. Promise me, if he comes, shut the door, go in the house, or walk away from whatever happens. I need you to promise.”

She swallows against the history of their story, lodged in her throat,

‘“I promise”

She feels him exhale, his grip lessens on her, and he tips her chin,

“So the kids are away all night? I believe I was promised a viewing of a new night gown.”

Hyde sweeps Jackie up to find healing in her arms, because Hyde knows it isn't over, but this time when Kelso comes a knocking, it will be the last. 


End file.
